photo credit: istockphoto

Cliff Goldmacher is a songwriter, producer, session musician, engineer, author and owner of recording studios in Nashville, TN and Sonoma, CA. Cliff’s site, http://www.EducatedSongwriter.com, is full of resources for the aspiring songwriter and his company, http://www.NashvilleStudioLive.com, provides songwriters outside of Nashville with virtual access to Nashville’s best session musicians and singers for their songwriting demos.

You can download a FREE sample of Cliff’s eBook “The Songwriter’s Guide To Recording Professional Demos” by going to http://www.EducatedSongwriter.com/ebook.

Why do professional recordings sound, well…professional? There are a number of reasons, including high quality microphones, pre-amps, an experienced engineer and a well-designed studio space. One of the single most important elements in a great-sounding, professional recording is the performance of the session musicians. There is a reason that the job of the session musician exists. It’s these musicians whose talent and studio experience contribute in a major way to the polished sound of a recording. In this article I’ll show you how using session musicians specifically applies to songwriting demos.

Shouldn’t I Be Able To Do This Myself?

While I am a big proponent of wearing as many hats as you can in your musical career, there are certain areas where it makes much better sense to rely on experts. First of all, it’s extremely important that you take ego out of the equation. There is no shame in having someone else play on your demo.

Remember that a songwriting demo is supposed to put your song in the best possible light in order to “sell” it to prospective artists or place it in films and TV shows. It is not supposed to be proof of your studio musicianship. Recording your instrument in the studio requires an entirely different skill set than playing live.

For lack of a better description, studio recording is more like music surgery than a musical performance. While you might be comfortable playing guitar in your living room or even on a stage in front of hundreds of people, it’s an entirely different ballgame to sit in a four by six-foot booth wearing headphones and listening to a clicking sound. Giving a note-perfect, dynamic and in-time performance in this kind of unnatural setting requires a special set of skills.

Isn’t It Cheaper if I Do It Myself?

Given that we all have to keep an eye on the bottom line when it comes to our recording budget, there is the temptation to save money by playing on the demo yourself. The problem with this method is that often it will take an inexperienced musician twice as long to get a viable take as it would a pro. One of the many advantages of using session musicians is that they are not only good at what they do but fast.

In other words, the price you pay to hire a session musician translates into savings on studio time compared to playing the part yourself. Being fast in the studio is useful for another reason as well. When a session bogs down with take after take, it starts to feel a lot more like work. When things go quickly and smoothly, they stay musical and fun.

Don’t discount the need for a session to stay enjoyable. My experience has been that everyone does his or her best work when the atmosphere in the studio is light and productive.

Great Expectations

When it comes to recording a demo, it’s essential that you keep your listening audience in mind at all times. In the music industry, there is a certain level of “polish” that record labels, publishers, managers and producers have come to expect from the demos they listen to.

By bringing in the same musicians that play on hundreds of songwriting demos and major label record projects, you’ll be giving these industry types what they’re used to hearing. We’ve all heard from time to time industry professionals say that they can “hear through” your rough recordings.

My recommendation is NOT to take that chance. You’ve only got one opportunity to make a first impression and you should give yourself every advantage. Also, even if there is one industry professional willing and able to hear through a rough recording, you’ll hopefully be pitching this song to a number of industry people many of whom will be expecting a professional sounding demo.

The Care and Feeding of Session Musicians

When it comes to working with session musicians, there are a few things to keep in mind. First of all, if you’re not comfortable writing out a chord chart, professional session musicians are perfectly capable of listening to your rough recording and writing out their own charts.

For session musicians, charting is quick process that should take no longer than 10-15 minutes at the most. Then, when it comes time for the them to play, always suggest that they try it their way first. There are two reasons for this. First, you’ve hired them to make your demo sound great so you should give them a chance to go with their instincts before you offer any direction.

Second, by letting them do what you’ve brought them in to do with a minimum of interference, you’ll create goodwill that will go a long way towards the overall vibe in the studio. In almost every case, what the session musicians come up with will be better than you ever expected.

However, if you’re still not getting what you want after they’ve tried it their way, you’re 100% entitled to politely ask them to try it the way you were hearing it. The ONLY appropriate response from a session musician to your request is “absolutely.”

Conclusion

It can be intimidating to work with such talented musicians, but remember, they’re working for you! One of my favorite expressions is “the best ones have nothing to prove.” In other words, when you hire pros not only will they be great at what they do but they should be a pleasure to work with as well.

There is no reason to hire even the best session musician if they have a bad attitude. This is extremely rare but if it happens, I’d recommend never using that musician again. There are way too many wonderful, friendly and talented session musicians out there to ever settle for one with a chip on their shoulder.

Finally, if you’ve never used a professional musician on your songwriting demo, do yourself a favor and try it out. You’re in for a treat and you’ll end up with a great demo.

Good luck!

photo credit: iStockphoto

This is a guest post by Cliff Goldmacher. Cliff is a songwriter/engineer/producer/author and owner of recording studios in Nashville, TN and Sonoma, CA.

Cliff’s eBook “The Songwriter’s Guide To Recording Professional Demos” is available as a free download from his site at http://www.cliffgoldmacher.com/ebook.

Cliff is also the owner/founder of www.NashvilleStudioLive.com, a website that provides songwriters outside of Nashville with virtual access to Nashville’s best session musicians and singers for their songwriting demos.

Working as a producer for the last ten years, I’ve recorded with all kinds of artists from “fresh off the boat” newbies to artists whose experience in the world of music doubles or even triples my own. In every case, my role as a producer stays essentially the same. It’s that role that I’m going to describe in this article.

What Is A Producer?

The best way I know to describe what a producer does comes in the form of this analogy: A producer is to a recording as a director is to a film. When it comes to making a film, the buck essentially stops with the director.

In a film, the director steers the ship, working with everyone from the technical editors to the actors in order to achieve his or her overall vision of the movie. It is exactly that way with a producer when it comes to making a recording.

The producer have the experience to work with the studio engineer (often possessing the technical expertise to engineer the project themselves) and the musical understanding to help the artist with everything from song choice, structure and arrangement to the all-important vocal performances that are vital in giving a recording its personality. In short, a producer provides the experience and necessary perspective to guide a recording from start to finish.

Producer Backgrounds

Producers can come from a variety of backgrounds. I’m listing the four most common and what each brings to the process, but, typically, producers have experience in more than one of these areas.

1. The Songwriter – Since at it’s essence, a recording is dependent on the quality of the song, the songwriter/producer is heavily involved in the song selection process. Not only does this type of producer have experience in knowing what does and doesn’t work when it comes to pre-existing songs, but often this producer will co-write songs with the artist for a given project.
2. The Musician – Here, it’s often an instrumental and music theory background that gives this type of producer their experience. They have first hand knowledge when it comes to working with musicians and knowing what instrumental approach will work best in a given situation.
3. The Engineer – In this case, the producer’s primary experience comes from actual recording (i.e., placing microphones on drum kits, recording vocals and mixing albums). By becoming an expert in the nuts and bolts of the recording process, an engineer/producer can make the recording process a smooth one for the artist.
4. The Music Fan – This is someone who lives and breathes music and has the instincts to guide artists and session musicians through the recording process without necessarily having had the “hands on” experience of being a songwriter, musician or engineer themselves. They often bring great perspective to a situation where being too close to any one part of the process might compromise the overall recording.

What Do Producers Do?

As I’ve mentioned, producers can be involved in many different aspects of a recording. Some producers are very “hands off” acting mostly as the voice of experience and perspective for artists who already have a fairly clear idea of who they are and where they’re headed.

On the other end of the spectrum are the producers who are involved in every element of the recording from co-writing the songs, to engineering to playing one or even all of the instruments. In some, but certainly not all of these cases, the resulting recordings have such a distinctive sound that the producer becomes as associated with the recording as the artist themselves.

For the record, no one way takes precedence over any other for producing a recording. The only measure of a producer that matters is whether or not the resulting recording is satisfying to everyone involved. As most producers operate somewhere in between minimal and complete involvement, here are the main areas where most producers do their work.

1. Pre-production – This includes working with the artist to decide if the songs are as good as they can be and, ultimately, which songs would work best as a group for an album release. It also includes deciding on the overall sound of a recording which involves deciding which session musicians/instruments would be best suited to achieve the sound and feel of a particular song.
2. Instrumental Recording/Arrangement – At this point, the producer works with the assembled musicians and helps direct their performances in the studio in order to achieve a cohesive sound for the recording.
3. Vocals – Finally, because the typical music listener responds first to the voice of the singer, one of the most important roles of the producer is working with the vocalist to help them give their best, most sincere performance of their material. It is extremely difficult for even the most experienced vocalists to have any perspective on their performance while it’s happening. For this reason, a producer is the voice of reason and experience who knows how to encourage a vocalist to do one more vocal pass or helps them realize that it would be better to take a break and come back to fight another day.

How Do I Find A Producer?

For those who are new to the process of recording, whether it’s an album project or even a song demo, it is unclear where to look to find a producer for your project. Generally speaking, word of mouth in your music community serves as the best, most organic way to find a producer right for your project. Another effective way to find a producer, particularly if you’re interested in doing a whole recording project, would be to look at the liner notes on some of your favorite independent CD projects made in the city where you plan to record. Often, those producers are available for hire and it’s just a matter of getting their contact information which the artists themselves usually have. Finally, there’s no rule that says you can’t contact a well-known/successful producer whose work you admire. Maybe they will be too busy or too expensive to work with, but you never know and if you’re respectful in your request there’s no reason not to try.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, it’s a good working relationship and the trust between artist and producer that makes for the best results. So, be sure that you not only like a producer’s work but feel comfortable working with them as well. You’ll be spending a lot of time with this person and trusting them with your art, so make sure that you feel like the producer you choose is willing to give you and your music the attention necessary to get a great recording.

Good luck!

Singer-songwriter Ari Hest is a self-made success story. Even while under contract to a major label, he decided to break loose so he could record and release new music directly to fans on his own terms. The result was “52″, a collection of 52 individual songs written, recorded and released one at a time every week for an entire year.

Ari recorded almost all the songs on “52″ using Apple’s Garageband, a laptop and a microphone. One of the songs, “The Weight”, made USA TODAY’s “Listen Up Music Pick”.

The ambitious project yielded a follow-up album called “Twelve Mondays”, a collection of 12 fan-selected songs from “52″ reworked in a studio.

Ari took some time away from his busy schedule to share some of his insights about songwriting in the email interview below. His achievements show what is possible for aspiring, talented songwriters willing to put the time in to make things happen for themselves.

1. How long have you been playing music?

I’ve been singing since I was a kid, playing guitar since age 16 and writing music for a decade now.

2. Did you take lessons or are you self-taught?

I took a handful of voice and piano lessons, but my piano skill is questionable…guitar came much easier to me, didn’t need lessons for that.

3. When did you write your first song?

My first song was called “Surrounded By Surprise” and was written around ’98. I burned the lyrics in shame, but I still remember the melody, so that part is good.

4. When did you record your first song?

I recorded an EP my sophomore year of college at Cornell in 1999 called “Incomplete”.

5. What was your first gig like?

My first gig was a battle of the bands at my high school. I lost to a math teacher whose Axl Rose impression was spot on.

6. What made you decide to persue a music career?

I’m not really sure why, I guess I just enjoy music more than any other activity, and it comes naturally to me. So I figured it’d be wise to do something I love for a career and started to work hard at it.

7. When did you decide you wanted to take the DIY (Do It Yourself) route?

I’ve been DIY since ’07, but was also independent from ’99 to ’03. I’ve enjoyed it a lot more than the stint I had on a major label. I like the freedom of putting out music whenever I feel like doing so.

8. What is your writing process? How do you go from spark to finished song?

My writing process generally begins with a melody and then chords underneath it. I usually flesh out a whole song of music before getting into lyrics. Lyrics take a considerably longer amount of time for me, and I like to have the music in place before I focus on them.

9. How do you decide if an idea is worth persuing?

An idea is worth pursuing if I can’t stop humming it for at least 24 hours. I come up with a lot of musical snippets all day long, and most of them I don’t do anything with. The few that survive are usually good, and I go from there.

10. Do you copyright everything before you release it to your fans?

Yes, copyrighting is a necessary step at the beginning.

11. What are the pros and cons of doing everything yourself vs. working with other musicians?

I work with other musicians. I just dont have a record label supporting my albums, so I cover the cost of having musicians play on my records and on tour. I have a band that generally plays on everything I write these days.

12. Do you ever work with producers?

I still work with producers as well. I’m working on a new album now which is tentatively titled “Sunset Over Hope Street” with a producer named Alex Wong. Producers can help sculpt your songs and make the process of making a record more efficient, and Alex was great for that.

13. Do you miss working with a major label? Would you do it again?

I don’t miss the major label but I wouldn’t rule out signing with someone in the future. It’s nice to have the financial backing. Ideally I’d just like to take someone’s money and use it the way I see fit to promote my album, but that’s a rarity these days.

14. There’s been a lot of press about your use of Apple’s Garageband, especially for the Green Room Sessions and 52. Are you still using it? What do you like/not like about it?

I use Garageband every day for my demos. I also occasionally use Logic to record. Both are essential to how i create and work. They’re a huge asset, and really easy to use, even for computer idiots like me.

15. Do you use anything else for recording?

I use an Apogee Duet which links the signal from my instruments to my computer. It’s great. Small and portable, very handy. Thats pretty much it. Oh, and a mic. I bring a Shure SM-57 on the road for most of my tours.

16. What’s your current home studio rig?

I use the same rig at home.

17. How important is mastering to the recording process?

Mastering can help a lot, but that’s one of those things I really know very little about. There are preset mastering tools in Logic that anyone can use to enhance the sound of their recordings, but if you don’t know what you’re doing that can get dicey. Better to ask a pro about that.

18. What was the inspiration behind the 52 project?

The 52 project came about because while on a major label I didn’t have the creative liberty to release music when I felt like it, and I wanted to try something that would set me apart from other writers. It was the best thing I’ve done in my career, mostly because I wrote a lot of good material that year. I’m not sure if I could do it again though. It was a strain on the rest of my life. We’ll see.

19. What has been the response to 12 Mondays after the release of 52?

I think the response has been better than any album I’ve had, and it makes perfect sense, because this is the best record I’ve made. It’s the best representation of what I do. My other albums were good but in some cases, in my opinion, fell short of where I intended to go with them. This one has been received quite well worldwide.

20. What are your plans for the future?

I plan on releasing my next album sometime later this year. After that who knows. There’s no master plan, I just wanna enjoy doing this.

Learn more about Ari and his music at arihest.com.

Today’s computer recording technology provides songwriters with the tools necessary to achieve beautifully textured arrangements. One major tool in the songwriter-producer’s arsenal is MIDI. While it provides loads of instrumentation options and editing capabilities, MIDI can also be a perfectionist’s nightmare, causing endless tweaking and draining the creative process.

In part one of this two-part series on MIDI and Songwriting, I’ll cover the basics of MIDI, how it works, and what you need to know. I’ll also show you how to set up for MIDI recording using Reason and Pro Tools.

Part two of this series talks about to use MIDI to enhance your creative flow as a songwriter.  Check out that article here.

What is MIDI?

MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. It’s an industry standard protocol which enables keyboard controllers, electronic instruments, and computers to communicate and synchronize with each other. …Huh?

Basically, this is what you need to know: MIDI does not transmit actual audio. MIDI transmits information about musical events including pitch, note velocity (intensity), volume, and vibrato. MIDI information is everything about a musical phrase except for the sound itself. Most commonly, you would use a MIDI keyboard controller to record the MIDI information to your software sequencer. Again – you’re only recording digital information, not actual audio. So where does the sound come from?

The audio comes from a sampler or a synthesizer, which gets assigned to the recorded MIDI sequence. The MIDI sequence dictates how to present and arrange the audio coming from the sampler or synth. If the sampler is set to a grand piano sound, the MIDI information dictates how the chords and melodies are crafted and performed.

The Connections

You and your instrument: A MIDI Piano keyboard is the most common instrument for recording with MIDI. These days, many of them are USB powered. I suggest going for at least a 61-key, as anything less can be quite limiting. Weighted keys are always a nice feature, but not totally necessary in my opinion.  The M-Audio Keystation is a solid choice.

Instrument to computer: The keyboard is connected to your computer using a USB cable.  In the past, MIDI cables were the only option.  As the computer began to play a larger role in the process, MIDI to USB adapters became necessary.  Today, you can forget about dealing with MIDI cables and adapters, and simply use a strait USB connection.

Recording the performance: MIDI sequencing software is used to record the information transmitted from the instrument through the USB cable to your computer.  Pro Tools is the industry standard, but there are many others.  My personal preference is to use Reason as it provides a dedicated combination of MIDI sequencing with samplers and synths (discussed below).

Performance to audio: Now that your performance has been captured by your software and recorded in the form of MIDI information, you need give your performance a “voice” by assigning a sampler or synthesizer to it.  Samplers and synths can be in the form of hardware components, which would come next in your chain: Computer out to sampler in.  These days, especially in home-recording set-ups, software samplers and synths are most commonly used.  A software sampler calls on recorded .wav or .aiff files and assigns them as the output audio for your MIDI information.  Again, my software of choice here is Reason as it provides a host of awesome software samplers and synths to fuel the creative juices.

Audio to speakers: The last step in the chain is to output the audio to speakers.  This usually involves some kind of digital audio interface connected to a mixer, amplifier, and speakers.  For my home-recording studio, I use the MBox which is then connected to my powered speakers.  The MBox is connected to my computer via USB.

MIDI + Reason + Pro Tools

As I noted above, my weapons of choice for music production are Pro Tools combined with Reason.  By using both in my process, I can utilize the awesome creative tools from Reason — the samplers, synths, and dedicated MIDI sequencer while harnessing the power of Pro Tools for recording live audio, plus mixing and mastering.

The idea is to sync Reason with Pro Tools, so that both are on the same tempo clock, and the audio from Reason is ported directly into a track in Pro Tools.  The way to achieve this is to utilize the built-in ReWire interface.  ReWire allows you to open up Reason as if it were a plug-in on a track.  You use one of the track’s inputs for this.

The process of setting it up goes like this:

1. Fire up a Pro Tools session (Reason is not yet launched).
2. Create a new stereo track.
3. Where you select input effects, choose Instrument > Reason.
4. This will automatically launch the Reason application.
5. The audio coming out of Reason is now played through your track in Pro Tools.  All time code is synced.

And there you have it.  I hope this served as your guide to setting up your MIDI computer recording studio.  Be sure to check out part two of this series, where I’ll talk about how you can use MIDI to enhance your songwriting process without disturbing your creative flow.

Over to you…

How does your MIDI setup work?  What’s your software / hardware of choice?

If you’re a pro audio engineer, then you already know about Tape Op.  You can find a copy laying around just about any serious recording studio.  If you’re an engineering student, or just getting into the world of music recording, then I highly suggest getting your hands on a subscription.  Even if you’re not a techie, but you’re a musician, songwriter, producer, or you’re interested in peering in behind the scenes of today’s music industry, you will enjoy reading it.

The content ranges from fascinating interviews to instructional columns, gear reviews, album reviews, and everything in between.  They cover the entire spectrum.  From the biggest names in music history, to the small guys making a stir today.  The gear reviews are not only positive, but detailed and honest descriptions of the pieces and their application in the studio.  The album reviews cover new releases along with notable stuff from decades ago.  Some are names, some are obscurities but all are print-worthy.

I personally dig the interviews the most.  They really get into it with some truly fascinating voices around today’s recording world.  They interview producers, engineers, songwriters, studio owners, label owners, and gear designers.  Some recent favorites included Jon Frusciante, Nino Moschella, Craig Potter of Elbow, Bones Howe, George Massenburg… the list goes on.

Studios from around the world are regularly profiled which is also quite interesting.  Studio owners will go into the business side of things, talking about the scene in their local market and the history of the area as well as their studio.  Very cool stuff.

I must also mention the creativity that goes into the graphic design, layout, photography, and typography of Tape Op.  This is something that often gets overlooked when talking about a music recording magazine, but deserves some recognition.  Each article differs from the next in look and feel, use of color, and article flow from page to page.

Tape Op magazine is eagerly anticipated every couple of months.  When it does appear in my mailbox, it doesn’t take long before I dig in and read the issue from cover to cover.  I keep a stack of them archived in my home-studio along with pages posted up on my walls.  It’s a true gem and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.  Did I mention it’s free?!

www.tapeop.com

This is a guest post from Cliff Goldmacher, a songwriter/producer with recording studios in both New York City and Nashville. Along with teaching workshops for songwriters around the country, he’s a regular contributor to EQ Magazine.  For more about Cliff, visit www.cliffgoldmacher.com

As a result of recording and producing literally hundreds of demos, I’ve learned that it is always better to “Prepare and Prevent” than to “Repair and Repent.” Here are a few steps you can take to help make your demo recording experience more successful.

Song Preparation:

It may sound obvious but make sure your song is FINISHED. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had clients come into the studio only to start rewriting a part of the lyric or melody. It is significantly less stressful (and quite a bit less expensive) to write a song when you’re not paying the studio an hourly fee.

You can also benefit from trying a few rough recordings at home before you get to the studio. The simple act of listening back to a song instead of performing it will reveal any weaknesses or issues that need to be dealt with before the studio clock is running. The last of these rough home recordings will become the definitive work tape.

The Rough Recording:

This is any simple, inexpensive recording that you do on a hand-held tape recorder, mini disc player, mp3 recorder, etc. Generally a piano or guitar plus a scratch vocal will do the trick. The key here is not a perfect recording but rather an accurate representation of the song structure. In other words, it doesn’t have to sound great as long as the chords, melody and lyrics are correct. The purpose of this work tape is to provide the demo vocalist and session musicians with a final version of your song that they can learn from.

The Players:

Let’s start with the demo vocalist. It’s always a good policy to get a copy of the work tape and the lyrics to the singer a week or so before the session. There are several reasons for this. First of all, the singer can let you know what key the song should be in to best suit their voice. This way, if you end up recording instrument parts before the singer does their part, you’ll know the correct key. Secondly, the more time the singer has to learn the song, the less time he or she will take to sing the song when the studio clock is running.

When you get to the session, it’s wise to have printed lyric sheets for the engineer, musicians and vocalist. The lyrics should be typewritten and have each chorus written out in full. The reason for this is that you’ll be using these lyric sheets to mark spots that need fixing (or spots on certain takes that you like) and having “Repeat Chorus” written for the second and third choruses won’t allow you to take good notes. The better the notes you take on the lyric sheet while the vocalist is recording, the easier it will be to tell the vocalist what works and what needs to be fixed.

The session musicians do not need a work tape in advance. They will be learning the song from your work tape when they get to the session. You can save a little time by writing a chord chart of the song if it’s something you’re comfortable doing. If not, the session musicians should have no trouble doing it for you quickly using the work tape you bring to the session.

After that, it’s up to the singers and musicians to bring your song to the next level. There’s nothing more fun than listening to world-class musicians and vocalists record a song you’ve written. The more you prepare in advance, the more you’ll enjoy your studio experience.

Cliff Goldmacher is a songwriter, producer, engineer and the owner of recording studios in both Nashville and New York City. Cliff is also a regular contributor to EQ Magazine and Pro Sound News.

Cliff Goldmacher
Website: www.cliffgoldmacher.com
Email: cliff@cliffgoldmacher.com
Phone: 615.320.7233
Biography

The art of producing songs in the studio involves a tremendous amount of patience and focus.  Songwriters should strive to achieve a recording that will be appreciated for many years to come.  Crafting and perfecting your production process is different for everyone.  It’s important to be aware of what works and what doesn’t.  Learn from past experience and always strive to make progress creatively, technically, and professionally.

Today, I want to discuss the importance of using scratch tracks.  Scratch tracks are recorded parts of a song that have not been perfected yet.  They are meant to be rough takes, not to be used in the final mix (although sometimes they turn out to be your best take!).

Scratch tracks are useful as temporary placeholders, while you build the rest of the song around them.  They’re also great for listening back and fine-tuning how you want to deliver the part when you record the final version.  By taking the time to lay down scratch tracks, you can get a better idea of where the recording is headed.  They help you envision a road map for arriving at your final product.

An example would be to record a vocal scratch track early in the tracking process.  The sooner you have the lead vocal in place, the better because it’s often the most important element of the song.  You want to structure the rest of your instrumental parts around the lead vocal.  Having a scratch version in place helps you write parts that don’t interfere with the vocal part, but compliment it nicely.  Once all the other parts have been recorded and finalized, you can go ahead and record the final vocal part.  It’s best to save the final vocal tracking for last so that the singer can draw on inspiration from the all of the instruments and really feel the fullness of the music.

The real advantage to crafting your songs with scratch tracks is for listening back and soaking in your creation in progress.  The process if recording a song often lasts several weeks. During that time, you should be listening to your rough mixes outside the studio- in your car, in your headphones, home stereo, etc. The more you familiarize yourself with every nuance of the performance, the more seasoned you will be when it comes time to lay down the final takes.

Many bands actually take months for pre-production. That is, recording and mixing entire songs as rough drafts before starting work on the actual record. Most independent songwriters don’t have the luxury of endless studio time for drawn out pre-production sessions. However, it’s always a smart idea to factor in extra time for producing your songs with at least some scratch tracking of parts.

Recording multiple takes in pro tools

When recording in Pro Tools, you can easily record multiple takes of a part using playlists.  The playlists feature in Pro Tools allows you to record an unlimited number of takes on a single track.  For each track in a multi-track mix, you activate one playlist – whichever take works best for that part.

To create a new playlist, click on the up/down arrow to the right of the track name.  In the options that popup, choose “New…”.

Give your new playlist a name. Pro Tools automatically names it by adding “.01″, “.02″, “.03″ to the end of the track name. Personally, this naming convention works fine for me, so I generally just keep the suggested name and click OK here.

Re-record the part on a new playlist, and repeat the process each time you want to do another take. When you playback the song, or prepare for bouncing to disk (mix down), select the playlist you want to use by clicking the same arrow you used to create the new playlist.

Playlists in Pro Tools provides an easy way to record scratch tracks before laying down the final take. Record the rough take first, then flip the track to a new playlist when you’re ready for the real thing. Later on, during editing or mixdown, you may decide there were parts of that rough take you liked. You can always flip back to the first playlist, cut the parts you liked, and paste them into the final playlist on that track.

Over to you…

What’s your process for doing scratch tracks, and your method of setting them up using your recording software of choice?

In a previous post, I talked in length about how the music industry is changing simultaneously with the explosion of the blogosphere. One thing to take away from this is that releases that are shorter in length are much more common today. Less songs, shorter songs, but new releases are much more frequent.

Music production quality, especially out of home recording studios, has improved tremendously in the past decade. We’re now seeing independent artists producing some great sounding tracks straight out of their basement budget recording studio. Songs that would be demos sound good enough to use on the album!

Here’s a breakdown of the common names for music releases. This should help you figure out which format best fits your style and current situation.

Demo

A demo really doesn’t have any specific length or number of songs, however it’s most commonly shorter than an EP or an album. The very first thing bands cut is usually a demo consisting of three to four songs. This is used to put a sound to the name, populate the Myspace page with something, and send out to clubs to book shows.

You’re probably not so concerned with getting your demo in the hands of thousands of fans because this is really just the first draft of your sound. Additionally, many music consumers are not very excited about paying money for something that’s called a “demo” or even taking the time to listen to it more than once.

It might be a good idea to hand out some demos for free while you’re band is developing, or you’re in the studio recording your first “real release”.

Demo recordings might also be used for more experienced bands and songwriters as more of an internal production process. You record a full song with some arrangement as a test run for when you record it for the record. This is good to listen to for a couple weeks to get a feel for how you want to perfect it on the real thing.

EP

The EP, or Extended Play, has been around for quite a while, although it seems to have been making a resurgence in recent years. Here’s some more information about it.

EPs tend to have 10 to 30 minutes of material and consist of roughly five or six songs.  This is kind of the middle ground between a demo and a full-length album.

EPs can be used in a variety of situations.  Perhaps it’s the first official release that you’re promoting to your audience to generate a buzz and introduce your sound.  You may not have enough material to fill a full-length album yet.

Another idea is to release several EPs in a short period of time to create a steady stream of musical output.  I personally think this idea is really gaining traction in recent years.  In fact, I chose to use this method of releasing my songs at my personal blog (sorry for the shameless plug!).

Another great use for an EP is a bonus release that follows a full-length album or accompanies a DVD.  Many bands release a shorter EP containing b-side recordings from the album.  Others release it as an exclusive set of never heard before songs or versions of existing songs.  There lots of interesting options when working with the EP format.

Album

An album, or otherwise known as LP (long-play), is 30 to 80 minutes of material, usually consisting of ten to twelve songs.

While the sliding record industry is certainly having an effect on the overall quality and substance of albums, they are still the centerpiece of the discography of many bands and artists.

Albums are the way we reference historic moments in rock history.  Albums define the phase of an artist’s career and provide a point of comparison to early and later developments in their sound.

For many emerging bands and artists, it can be difficult to commit the time and the funds needed to produce a full-length album when the success of that album may or may not come.  It takes a huge amount of promotion efforts along with some luck to fully recoup the cost of making the album (and this goes for self-produced independent bands too).  This is one reason why EPs are a more popular method for recording and releasing music while continuing to gig and progress as a band.

These ideas should help you decide on the best format for your music at any given point in your songwriting career.  I’d love to hear your ideas and experiences in this aspect of the song game.

It’s the force that drives us as songwriters. The flame in our belly that commands us to pick up our guitar and start strumming. The itch that makes us scribble a lyrical thought on a piece of paper. The emotion that sparks an idea. Inspiration is step number one in the life cycle of a great song.

In order to produce a great song, it’s important to understand that you need to be inspired by SOMETHING. Just sitting down with the intention of knocking out another song just won’t work. Forget about scheduling writing time, or planning a writing session. It should be spontaneous. When you find yourself in the midst of a creative flow without knowing how you got there, you’re on to something great.

The things that inspire us are uncontrollable. They are the things that draw emotion in us and drive us to pour out what we’re feeling into a song. Maybe it’s the up’s and down’s of your relationship with someone. Or the way a great movie hits home with you in a certain way. Maybe it’s built up frustration with something, or the burning need to broadcast a political message.

Inspiration comes naturally, but it doesn’t always come frequently. Sometimes it’s best to accept the fact that you’re just not “feeling it” at this moment. It’s much better to put your instrument down (for now) or switch to practicing written songs for the time being, than to try and force out a mediocre attempt at a new song. Just know that you this emptiness will pass, and you will write another great song. Just not right now.

If you accomplish anything at all during a forced writing sessions, it most likely won’t live up to your personal standards. This might cause you to doubt yourself as a songwriter and can lead to a longer than necessary writer’s block.

I have found that my songwriting output comes in waves. I tend to write sets of three songs with a good month or two in between each batch. Something tugs at my emotions, which snowballs into a two-three week writing frenzy. Then I’ll spend roughly the next month developing those ideas into complete works. The original inspiration has passed, I spend the emotional down time fleshing out those songs, practicing different arrangements, laying down rough recordings, and practicing old songs.

How do you harness your inspiration? How do you deal when the juices just aren’t flowing?